Where Have I Been?

Well, I thought that I should just stop by and drop a line to all of my lovely readers.

I am sure that one or two of you are curious as to where I have been lately.

My posts became more and more sporatic and then non-existent.

Well, really I am just busy and tired.

Two birthday parties three weeks apart is a BIG challenge,

much larger than I ever anticipated.

Plus, I had to finish my couch, paint some in the house,

hang photos that should have been hung months ago.,

tie up some loose ends in the boys room before Roly Poly's party on Saturday.

And . . . while all of this is going on I am supposed to be mommy,

a fun, Summer loving, mommy.

You know the one who takes their kiddo to swim lessons and the park.

The one who plays in the backyard with the boys.

So, please hang in there and I will be back with some fun stuff.

I just don't have the time or energy at the moment to upload, edit,

and most importantly create a lovely post.

Thanks for the loyalty.

LOVES!!!!!

Pirate PARRRTY

Pirates are super fun,

even though there was a time where I was pirated out.

Thank goodness right then Christian Bale came out with a cowboy movie

and gave me some space away from the pirates

allowing me to fall back in love with them.

Now  that I am a party planning mama,

I had an excuse to throw a Pirate Party.

Here is the banner that inspired it all.

I picked this up post Halloween last year.

I loved the colors.

To make this simple 
I am just going to show you some collage snap shots
with basic titles.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.




THE INVITATION

INSIDE DECOR

OUTSIDE DECOR

THE PIRATES

Monster and Tia Niki (She was a phenomenal help!)
Yes it was 100 and she wore that. AWESOME!!!

THE FOOD

THE CAKE

THE FUN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONSTER

Okay, so that is it!
Thanks for letting me share with you.
Let me know what you think.


Next, an Owl party on the 23rd.
Have a wonderful weekend.

This party is linked to:

{What I Wore Wednesday} Patriotic Pirate

This year my Fourth of July outfit took some clever planning.

 I wanted something that was both festive and patriotic for Fourth of July, 

but also looked a bit Piratey for Monster's party.

I contemplated several looks.

Black and white stripes.

Linen pants.

Then Nina from Momma Go Round

linked to this photo of Cat Deeley on Facebook.

SOURCE

Way cute, right?

Well, I decided this was the look I was going to try to recreate.

I had red and white striped fabric,

so I thought I could try to make the skirt.

I did need to get an appropriately colored top though.

On Saturday I was able to run into Old Navy to get a top

and also to check the price on the skirt.

A top took about 10 seconds, literally, to find.

They were right when I walked in.

Then I saw what I thought was the skirt,

and it was.

However, it is NOT red and white.

NOPE!!!

 Orange and Cream.

Editing can REALLY change the colors.

So, I knew I was going to want to make my skirt,

not like a mom doesn't have a trillion other things to do the night before a party.

Pshhha . . .

So I sewed one at 1 AM on Saturday night

and we left our house for my MIL's at 8 AM the next morning.

Sleep total.

3 1/2 hours.

Totally enough.

Okay,

here's the look in action.

In the evening we went to a cousins house in a 

city that allows fireworks.

The boys get a bit crazy every year.

This was the first year though that 

Monster enjoyed them and wasn't either asleep or terrified.

Roly Poly was sleeping.

I decided to change into shorts so I could sit on the ground more easily.

Simple switch.

Oh yeah, then it rained for about 5 minutes.

SWEET!

Hope your holiday was fun too.

Check back in tomorrow,

hopefully,

for a full review of the Pirate Party.

It was pure awesomeness.

{Frugal Friday} Five Frugal Party Tips

Since parties are sort of the theme of the week,

today I am going to share with you five things that help 

me to stay on track while planning a party.

Parties in today's society can be a bit exorbitant and costly.

#1

Plan early. Plan often.

Yes, when I say early I mean EARLY!!!

Seriously early.

You should pretty much start thinking about the party

 a minimum of nine months ahead of time.

This allows you to catch deals when there are clearances 
andto spread out cost.

It allows you to not impact your budget with a 
$500 plus dent at all once.

Food clearly cannot be picked up early 
which is why it is important to pick up the other things early.

Food costs alone can be between $80-$200 depending on the 

number of guests and what is being served.

#2

Plan. Plan. Plan.

And when you think you have it all covered 
plan some more.

Plan a budget, 

both overall all and per item.

For example,

this year for Roly Poly's first birthday I knew 

that I wanted the invitations to have matching paper.

I will be making a majority of the decorations from this paper.

Thus, these two items will make up the majority of my budget.

I set an overall number for the party,

but then I set a separate number for what
 I would spend on this bulk order.

I was exactly within my budget and ordered three months early

so the cost is already done even though the party 

isn't until July 23rd.

It is also important to plan table cloths, silverware, etc early.

What games, prizes, favors will you be incorporated.

This allows you to make a Target run and see plasticware in the

 seasonal section on clearance and pick it up.

I did this for both parties this year.

Monster's decor was inspired by some items I picked up in the Halloween clearance at Target

and 

Roly Poly's silverware was purchased from this years Easter section at Target.

Pictures of both will come after the actual parties.

#3

Cut Costs!!!

Yes, in some ways this is easier said than done,

but it is truly feasible.

One simple area for cost cutting is drinks.

Limit the number of options that you serve.

You do not need to purchase a 12 pack of 5 different types of soda.

Instead, you can serve filtered water in a large decorative pitcher.

Make some Crystal Light or Lemonade in another decorative pitcher.

Then, you are free to have one or two soda choices (purchased on sale with a coupon)

for your guests who have this as their preference.

The way that I am incorporating this idea for Roly Poly's party

is by serving only IBC rootbeer 

because the color goes with the theme

and then I will have some other refreshments in dispensers.

In the past I have spent way too much on drinks

and been left with more left overs than any one family needs.

There are several other ways of cutting costs.

• Sewing your own favor bags.
• Reusing items from past parties (eg glassware for center pieces--this is what I am doing for Monster's Pirate Party)
• Make your own cake/cupcakes/desserts
• Skip the pinata for an alternative game
• Avoid the bounce house trap at all cost (sorry if you are a bounce house lover. They are a cost though)
• Borrow chairs and tables from friends who have them or ask your church
• Serve only cake and ice cream, thus cutting your food costs astronomically.
• Have a breakfast party where you serve fruit and cereal.

#4

Taper the guest list.

This can be a hard one, especially for a first birthday party.

Just know that sometimes you can't taper and others you can.

When you can taper the guest list,

there are several possible strategies.

• You can throw a family ONLY party.
• You can make it a gender only party.
• When the child is old enough it can be a drop off party. No parents=less mouths to feed.
• Have a destination party where your child invites one-three friends. This is clearly a choice reserved for older children, not infants or toddlers.
• Make it at an inconvenient date or time. Seriously, this way you don't feel bad. Last year Monster's party was on a Thursday at 11. This pretty much excluded all extra dad mouths, including my husband's. This year his party is on his birthday, Fourth of July, at 10am. It is at my Mother-in-law's house 40 minutes from where we live. We limited it to family because we didn't want to obligate any of our friends to drive or cancel cooler plans. This wipes away any guilt. Everyone who is coming lives within 15 minutes of where the party will be. We are the only ones who do not live nearby.

#5

Don't be Embarrassed.

Be true to yourself. Be true to your budget.

People are they to have fun.

In the end people don't REALLY care how awesome your party was.

Instead, they just want to hang out, have good conversation, and love on your kid.

If you can't afford it or you just don't have time to manage it,

then just have a classic party like your mom threw you.

This was what I did last year.

I bought Little Caesar $5 pizzas,

a cheap but cute cake from Target,

simple favors, 

and that was that.

I was sick, pregnant, tired, hot, perturbed, and just a bit over it in general.

I still had fun. 

The kids were enamored with the day.

All was well.

Okay, so this post was mostly wordy, 
but I think that it is worth reading.

Lots o Love for this 

AWESOME< AMAZING< FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND!!!!